Gaddafi believed Libyans still loved him till his death: Bodyguard

Muammar Gaddafi believed Libyans still loved him despite being repeatedly told that Tripoli had been occupied," his former bodyguard had claimed.

"He believed the Libyan people still loved him, even after we told him that Tripoli had been occupied," The New York Daily News quoted Mansour Dao, as saying.

Gaddafi could have escaped from Libya, but he insisted on dying in the land of his ancestors, Dao said, adding: "I feel sorry for him because he underestimated the situation. He could have left and gotten out of the country and lived a happy life."

Gaddafi, his son Mussatim, and his Defence Minister, Abu Bakr Younis, were buried on Tuesday in unmarked graves somewhere in the Libyan desert.

Officials said several of the former dictator’s remaining relatives attended the simple Islamic service, but declined to reveal the exact location fearing it could become a shrine for remaining loyalists.